It's easy to look back and debunk most of the dotcom hype.
But some ideas are too tantalizing to let go. B2B exchanges were
going to change the way we do business. Buyers and suppliers were
going to save time and money in online marketplaces. Now, if you
can name one B2B exchange, you're in the minority. What
happened? Can anything be salvaged?

Of course, exchanges haven't completely disappeared. The
auto industry's Covisint (www.covisint. com) is the poster
child for B2B survivors. But independent public exchanges-mostly
entrepreneurial-went down the tubes at an alarming rate. Where did
they go wrong?

Ravi Aron, assistant professor of operations and information
management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia, points to the lack of value offered by companies
that simply took an online catalog approach. The chicken-and-egg
problem cropped up as well: Buyers didn't want to join
exchanges without a lot of suppliers, and suppliers didn't want
to join without plenty of buyers.

Finally, entrepreneurs from outside an industry or market found
acceptance by insiders hard to come by. "There aren't many
markets that are so fragmented that an unrelated third party can
set up a [marketplace] and run it profitably," says Aron.
That's one reason Covisint, designed by insiders for insiders,
is doing well.

The term may sound outdated, but many of the concepts behind
"B2B" aren't. "There are profitable niches
entrepreneurs could occupy. Offer services that make the market
more efficient, rather than try to take ownership of the
market," Aron says. Independent exchanges may have just been a
bump on the online commerce highway, but their failure can show
entrepreneurs the path to success.

More from Entrepreneur

Dustin's experience and expertise can help you monetize your message, build a marketing strategy and connect with influencers.